Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
September 23, 2026
Q. President Trump, what do you plan to tell Xi about fentanyl?
Arrival Ceremony for President Xi Jinping of China/South Lawn Helipad
Q. Why did you decide to go to Andrews today?
The President. So that was a great little meeting. It was a great greeting, and I think they appreciated. Tremendous people.
Also, it's very nice to land on what they consider to be the most beautiful helipad ever built, by far. The—they've been waiting for that for about 30 years. We got it done. It's beautiful. It's nice when you get off.
First of all, the pilot said it's really nice not to land in grass, and it's also nice when you get off not to walk through mud, because you know we were walking through mud for a long time. For about 40 years, they've been walking through mud, but not any longer. So it's good, and I hope you appreciate this.
This is now a proper entrance for the White House. It's great, including what we've done.
We've totally rebuilt the façade, which is largely falling off. So we're very proud of it.
We had a very good day today. We had some good meetings on—in terms of various things; I won't go into details. You'll be reading about it pretty soon. But we had some very good meetings.
And thank you very much.
Q. Mr. President——
White House Ballroom Construction Project
Q. Ballroom update. Can you give us a ballroom update? Everything is going up really fast.
The President. Yes, we're ahead of schedule. They just set the first column today, if you take a look.
[At this point, the President pointed toward the ballroom construction site.]
And we're very much ahead of schedule.
The entire left portion, the north portion, has been built structurally, and it'll start to be covered up now with very powerful glass, and it's going to be something. And I wish we had it for tomorrow night because we'd be able to—you know, we have a packed house tomorrow night for President Xi and Mrs. Xi.
State Dinner Honoring President Xi Jinping of China
Q. Who are some of the biggest—who are some of the attendees that will be at the dinner tomorrow, if you can share with us?
The President. Well, I guess we'll probably give a list, but sort of everybody. Everybody. Everybody wanted to be there. I would say you have the entire tech world, the entire banking world, and a lot more.
No, you have a—I think it's sort of the—if you—if you go by points, I think it's the ultimate crowd. I wish we had more seats. That's the only problem.
Fentanyl
Q. Mr. President, on fentanyl. On fentanyl, 488,000 Americans died over the past decade from fentanyl coming from China. Do you agree with your Counterterrorism Director, Sebastian Gorka, that that was war by other means?
The President. As you know, we tariffed them due to the fentanyl, and what they have is fentanyl is used for many purposes. But when it's used for a bad purpose, that's not good. But they've been tariffed and, really, penalized very strongly for this.
[Several reporters began asking questions at once.]
United Nations General Assembly
Q. You gave a very—you gave a very powerful speech at the U.N.—was it yesterday or the day before.
The President. Thank you.
Q. Tell us about some of those conversations you had with some of those world leaders.
The President. Well, we've had great conversations. I think we just—we're the most respected country in the world. Two years ago, we were laughed at. We were mocked. We were like a bunch of fools. We're the most respected country anywhere in the world by far, and that's the way it goes.
Thank you. Thank you.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Q. When are you going to end the media ban?
China-U.S. Relations
Q. On Iran. Are you going to be—what are you going to be talking about with President Xi about Iran?
The President. Well, we'll see. We'll see. I'll be talking about that and many other subjects.
We'll see. But it's all coming along well, including that.
NOTE: The President spoke at 6:32 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White House after exiting Marine One. In his remarks, he referred to Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, White House. Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Peng Liyuan; Xi Jinping.
Subjects: China, President; China, synthetic opioid supply chain; Illegal drugs, interdiction efforts; News media, Presidential interviews; Opioid epidemic, efforts to combat; Tariffs; White House Ballroom construction project; White House renovation projects.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600635.